Eat the Rainbow: The Oral Health Benefits of Antioxidant Supplementation!

Brush. Floss. Brush. Floss. Brush. Floss. Are you feeling bored with your oral health care plan? Are you looking for something more exciting to help keep your mouth (and body) at its healthiest?

Well, it turns out that “eating the rainbow” might be just what you’ve been looking for. Colorful foods rich in antioxidants can not only strengthen your body’s cells whose job it is to fight gum disease, but they can also reduce your risk for decay.

In today’s post, we’ll talk more about antioxidants, how they can help, the best sources of natural antioxidants, the power of high-quality nutritional supplements, and how a simple antioxidant scan at Blodgett Dental Care can help you monitor and improve your own health!

What Are Antioxidants?

Antioxidants protect the body from damage caused by harmful molecules called free radicals. Scientists have found that damage from free radicals is a major factor in the development of:

Free radicals are unstable atoms or molecules that create chemical stress on the tissues surrounding them. For example, when a mercury filling is in contact with your gums, mercury vapor is constantly being released. This creates an “oxidative stress” on the gum tissue around the filling. This stress leads to free radical damage in the gum tissue. In order to combat oxidative stress, your body relies on its supply of “antioxidants”. Just imagine how much oxidative stress infective bacteria can cause in your gums where they’re not frequently removed!

So, how do you fight free radicals and how can you get more antioxidants into your body?

Natural Antioxidants

Have you ever heard a food described as a “superfood”? Most of the time that refers to a food that is naturally rich in antioxidants.

Colorful Antioxidant Rich Foods

As a general rule, brightly colored fruits, vegetables, roots, and berries tend to be the best sources of antioxidants. Examples include:

Be aware that not all vegetables are equal. Modern farming practices (including overfarming of the soil) have lowered the nutritional value and antioxidant count in many fruits and vegetables. To get the true benefits of these antioxidant rich foods, look for organic vegetables grown using sustainable farming methods ( but even that might not be enough, as we’ll talk about soon).

Fresh Herbs and Spices

Many people don’t realize it, but herbs and spices can also be very rich in powerful antioxidants. Some herbs and spices you can use to add antioxidants to your diet include:

Turmeric

Cumin

Oregano

Clove

Cinnamon

Basil

Ginger

Thyme

The key, however, is using fresh, high-quality herbs and spices. Old, dried spices and herbs aren’t as potent and full of antioxidants as their fresher counterparts.

What If Diet Isn’t Enough?

So how can you know if there are enough antioxidants in your body and your diet? Is eating a balanced “rainbow” diet sufficient to protect your body from the oxidative stress that is caused by free radicals? In short – probably not.

I would like to share my story of nutritional awakening.

A little over 2 years ago I became familiar with the NuSkin BioPhotonic Scanner technology — a sophisticated tool that provides a “score” of your antioxidant levels.

Prior to this time, I did not see the need for nutritional supplementation in my life as I was generally healthy and was not experiencing any physiological symptoms. To satisfy my own curiosity, I chose to try the BioPhotonic Scanner to assess my antioxidant score.

I scored a 42,000 which, if we relate this to a grade scale, was a C+. I was shocked! I eat a green smoothie every morning for breakfast, choose organic and non-GMO foods almost exclusively, and exercise regularly.

How could my antioxidant levels be so low? Now, if I’m being honest, I could get more sleep which may have helped to elevate my score. But with my busy lifestyle as a progressive dentist, business owner, and dedicated father, getting more sleep wasn’t in the cards. The bottom line for me was that this low score would not do! I wanted the best level of antioxidant protection I could get!

High-Quality Nutritional Supplements

After my disappointing test results, I decided that I would jump in with both feet and start taking quality nutritional supplements every day for 3 months. I wanted to see if it would improve my antioxidant scan score. And for you scientific-type-folks out there, no, I didn’t change anything else about my routine.

I just added in one pack of Pharmanex Life-Pak Nano in the morning and one at night. After 3 months, my score went up to 68,000! (which was in the range of a high “A”!) For reference, here’s a chart showing what that score means:

I will admit that having an objective score showing me that my body had more antioxidant support was very motivating. I decided to stick with it and added other supplements including anti-aging supplement which included:

Fish oils

Resveratrol

Lycopene

CoQ10

It has been 2 years since I started supplementing and over this time I have observed two incredible health benefits:

I don’t get sick! Even when my whole family gets sick, I do not.

My antioxidant score is now in the 80,000 range.

I’m not just a holistic oral health-care provider. I’m also a human being seeking my own best health. Because of my success, I encourage every person who reads this to discover your antioxidant score. If you want your body to be at its best health, supplementing with quality nutritional supplements is an absolute necessity.

The BioPhotonic Scanner we use at Blodgett Dental Care is a great place to start. It’s 100% non-invasive and provides valuable information about your health.

Why Is The BioPhotonic Scanner So Valuable?

The BioPhotonic Scanner really helps my patients understand how well their antioxidant systems are working. But why is it so important?

Your mouth is the gateway to your body. Everything you eat passes through your mouth and eventually interacts with and influences every system in your body. So why wouldn’t you want to optimize your dental health?

There are so many sources of offending substances in your mouth:

Old mercury fillings

Gum disease causing bacteria

Chemicals from processed foods

Acids and sugars in sodas and juice drinks

Cigarette smoke and urban pollution

Improving your antioxidant levels through diet and nutritional supplements is a great line of defense against damage and disease caused by free radicals.

Check Your Antioxidant Levels & Optimize Your Health!

Are you interested in learning more about holistic preventive dentistry? Do want to see how your antioxidant levels are doing? Make an appointment at Blodgett Dental Care today.